rules of war

She believes it can get even worse; that there is no doubt that Israel is flouting the Geneva Conventions in Gaza and this sends a message that the rules of war can be ignored in conflicts across the world.

She was not neutral about the rights all human beings should enjoy, and is deeply concerned that those rights are being damaged by the disregard of the rules of war in Gaza.

When the known death toll passed 40,000 last summer, the UN’s high commissioner for human rights said: “Most of the dead are women and children. This unimaginable situation is overwhelmingly due to recurring failures by the Israeli Defense Forces to comply with the rules of war.”

The distinction between combatants and civilians, however much asymmetrical war may blur it, is at the basis of international law and the rules of war.

That, some leading lawyers say, proves that Israel was using deadly force without distinguishing between combatants and civilians; a violation of the rules of war.